Roller skate



May 17, 1938. BECKER' 2,117,785

ROLLER SKATE Filed May 15. 1957 Jnuenl'nr 1 42 \95 95 97 JnhnEJi'JEckEr 11g WMZ Patented May 17, 1938 PATENT OFFICE ROLLER SKATE John Edward Becker, Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada Application May 15, 1937, Serial No. 142,737

5 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in roller skates, and the object of my invention is to provide a steerable roller skate of improved construction and wherein the roller containing elements are pivoted in adjustable relation to the sole plate so that the relationship of movement between the roller containing elements and the sole plate can be readily adjusted to suit the preference of the wearer.

A further object of my invention is to mount the rear rollers upon a bracket which is pivoted to the sole plate, such bracket being inclined, so that while the distance between the axis of the rollers and the pivotal point is sufiiciently great to give the required swinging movement of the rollers as the sole plate is tilted, yet the sole plate is sufiiciently close to the axis of the rollers to provide the necessary stability in the skate.

Another object of my invention is to construct the sole plate element of two portions which are slidable in relation to one another for length adjustment, such portions having their sides carried down from the sole plate proper to provide a streamlined skirting or housing which supports and houses the roller elements and thus provides a skate of very pleasing design.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists of a skate constructed and arranged all as hereinafter more particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevational View of my skate.

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken through the line 3-3, Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a rear end elevational view of the skate.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional View taken through the line 55, Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of the rear portion of the skate, part of the sole plate skirting being broken away to disclose the steering arm.

Figure 7 is an inverted plan View of a fragmentary portion of the skate as illustrated in Figure 6, and also showing a portion of the steering arm, and

Figure 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view through the arm, being taken through the line 8--8, Figure 7.

Like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different views of the drawing. a

In my skate as illustrated I provide a single front roller I which is non-steerably mounted and a pair of steerable rear rollers 2, and while I show this as my preferred construction, it is to be understood that my skate can be provided with steerable front rollers of the same construction as thesteerable back rollers without departing from the scope of my invention.

The sole plate of the skate consists of front and rear portions 3 and 4 which are slidably adjustable in relationto one another, following standard practice. The forward sole plate portion 3 is provided with a toe strap 5 or any other suitable shoe clamping means, and the rear sole plate portion 4 is furnished with a heel receiving lip 6 and strap 1 of any suitable construction and arrangement. The sole plate portions 3 and 4 are formed with downwardly extending skirtings 8 and 9 which are suitably shaped and curved to provide a structure of streamlined appearance. The skirting 8 is of substantially triangular form at its rearward end and slidably fits within the forward end of the skirting 9, such skirting 9 being also of substantially triangular form at its forward end. A bolt It extends downwardly through the sole plate portions 3 and 4 and skirtings 8 and 9 to lock the sole plate portions in their adjusted relationship to one another. The sole plate portion 3 contains upper and lower slots ll through which the bolt l0 extends, and such bolt is provided with a wing nut l2 threaded upon its lower end.

The forward lower portions I3 of the skirting 8 curve downwardly from the rounded front of the sole plate portion 3 and contain the front axle l4 upon which the front roller I is rotatably supported. The upper part of the front roller l is shielded by the skirting portions l3 so that only the lower part of the roller is normally visible.

The rear rollers 2 are carried upon a pivotal bracket l5 of inverted T-shape. The lower horizontal portion l6 of such bracket contains an axle H, and the rollers 2 are rotatably mounted upon the outer ends of the axle, following standard practice.

The bracket I5 is of hollow shell form and its upwardly extending portion contains a rubber sleeve [8 which in turn contains a tapered pin I 9, which is seated within the center of the rubber sleeve l8. The tapered pin l9 has an extension 20 of reduced diameter upon its lower end, and such extension 2!] passes freely through an orifice 2| in the plate 22 which is contained within the lower partof the upright portion of the bracket IS. The lower end of the extension carries a collar 23 which bears against the lower face of the plate 22 and thus retains the tapered pin L! from being pulled out of the bracket I5. The upper portion 24 of the tapered pin |9 which protrudes from the bracket I5 is of fiat sided square crosssectional form and slidably contained within a square orifice 25 in the turned over upper face 26 of the bracket l5. By this construction the pin i9 is free to move downwardly into the bracket l5 against the cushion formed by the rubber sleeve l8, but is retained against turning within the bracket as, of course, the square portion 24 cannot twist within the square hole 26.

The square portion 24 of the pin I9 is formed with an upper extension 27 which carries a pivotal ball 28. The ball 28 is pivotally contained within a spherical housing and such housing is formed from a pair of suitably shaped plates 29 and 30 which are riveted to the under face of the sole plate portion 4. It is, of course, to be understood that the lower plate 3|] is so formed that while the ball 28 is free to pivot within the spherical housing it cannot be pulled out of its socket.

Upon reference to Figures 1 and 6, it will be seen that the bracket l5 slopes rearwardly from the pivotal joint between the pin l9 and the sole plate. The bracket l5 is retained at the desired degree of angularity by an arm 3 l. which also constitutes a roller steering arm; This arm 3| is secured at its rear end to the lower portion of the bracket l5 and is provided at its forward end with a ball 32 which is pivotally contained within a ball socket 33. The ball socket 33 is formed with a suitable lower shoulder 34 and a downwardly extending pin 35, such pin 35 being receivable in any one of the orifices 36 provided in the lower portion of the skirting 9. The pin'35 is locked in place by a split pin 31 which is passed through an orifice in the lower end of the pin 35 underneath the bottom of the skirting 9.

The arm 3| is adjustable as to length and is preferably made of female and male portions 38 and 39, the portion 38 being of U-shaped crosssection and the portion 39 a rod slidablewithin the portion 38. The portion 38 is formed with a series of orifices 4B in its bottom and the outer end of the rod 39 carries a downwardly extending pin 4| which can project through any one of said orifices. The pin 4! is locked in place with a split pin 42. To prevent any sagging or hinging movement between the rod portions 38 and 39 about the pin 4 I, I furnish a bar 43 across the top of the rear end of the U portion 38, such bar. preventing the rod 39 from lifting out of the por-, tion 38.

As the sole plate of the skate is tilted from one side to the other by the foot of the wearer in making a turn, the lower portion of the skirting 9 carrying the ball socket 33 also swings from side to side with the sole plate and in so doing swings the forward end of the arm 3| so that the bracket I5 is swung about the sole plate ball joint to steer the rollers 2 in the opposite direction to which the sole plate is downwardly tilted, as illustrated in Figure 4. In order that the bracket 1 5 may be returned to its normal position when the foot is lifted, and also to snub the turning action of such bracket, I provide a short spiral spring 44 which surrounds the projecting portion of the pin I9. The lower end of the spring 44 is secured to the upper end of the bracket l5 and the upper end of the spring 44 is secured to the plate 30, so that when the bracket l5 swings in one direction it tends to uncoil the spring from its normal shape and when the bracket is turned in the opposite direction it tends to coil or put the spring in tension. When the rear rollers and housing are in the normal straight position, as illustrated in Figure 3, the spring 44 is not under tension. A second spring 45 may be also provided, such spring extending from a punched out lip 46 in the lower face of the skirting 9 to a strap 41 carried upon the lower end of the arm 3| at the point where it is connected to the bracket I5. Any tilting movement of the sole plate with the resultant pivoting of the bracket I5 will tend to bend the spring 45 and such spring will therefore have a tendency to restore the sole plate and bracket to the normal position. If the arm 3| is altered in length, the lower end of the spring 45 will slide underneath the lip 46.

The swinging of the bracket l5 in relation to the tilting of the sole plate can be governed by moving the ball socket 33 carrying the forward end of the arm 3| to any one of the holes 35, and if it is desired to alter the angularity of the bracket |5 the length of the arm 3| may be altered. Upon reference to Figure 2, it will be seen that the foot receiving surface of the sole plate is a little off center from the pivotal point of the rear rollers. I have found through experiment that a greater degree of stability can be secured by making the skates in this manner. The skate illustrated is designed for the right foot.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided a construction wherein the axle assembly of the rollers is supported by a pair of pivotal members formed by the pin l9 and arm 3|. The pin l9 and its surrounding structure is in compression and supports the weight on the sole plate, and the arm 3| is in tension and retains the pin i9 and axle assembly from swinging rearwardly under the weight on the sole plate. It will thus be apparent that the axle assembly is pivotally supported at two points which are arranged at different levels in relation to the horizontal plane through the axis of the rollers. I have shown the lower pivotal point as secured to the lower part of the skirting 9 of the sole plate, but it will be appreciated that if such skirting were not provided that a downwardly extending bracket could be furnished upon the lower face of the sole plate and have its lower end carry the ball socket 33, and that such bracket would still form part of the sole plate structure. Although I have shown a particular construction of my invention, it is to be understood that I can make any such changes and alterations: as I may from time to time deem necessary without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a roller skate, a sole plate structure, a pair of rollers, an axle assembly upon which the rollers are rotatably mounted, one axle supporting member protruding from the axle assembly to the sole plate structure, a universal joint connection between the outer end of said axle supporting member and the sole plate structure, a second axle supporting member extending from the axle assembly to the sole plate structure and adjustable as to length, and a universal joint connecting the outer end of the second axle supporting member to the sole plate structure.

2. In a roller skate, a sole plate structure, a pair of rollers, an axle assembly upon which the rollers are rotatably mounted, an axle supporting member protruding from the axle. assembly to the sole plate structure, a universal joint connectlon between the outer end of said axle sup-- porting member andthe sole plate structure, a second axle supporting member extending from the axle assembly to the sole plate structure and adjustable as to length, and a universal joint adjustably secured to the sole plate structure and connecting the outer end of the second axle supporting member to the sole plate structure.

3. In a roller skate, a sole plate structure, a pair of rollers, an axle assembly upon which the rollers are rotatably mounted, an axle supporting member protruding from the axle assembly to the sole plate structure, a universal joint connection between the outer end of said axle supporting member and the sole plate structure, a second axle supporting member extending from the axle assembly to the sole plate structure, and a universal joint secured to the sole plate structure and connecting the outer end of the second axle supporting member to the sole plate structure, and means whereby the second universal joint can be adjusted in relation to the sole plate structure in one of several predetermined positions.

4. In a roller skate, a sole plate structure, a pair of rollers, an axle assembly upon which the rollers are rotatably mounted, a pair of axle supporting members extending from the axle assembly to the sole plate structure and having their outer ends pivotally secured to the sole plate structure, and a spring tending to retain the rollers and axle assembly against swinging movement about the pivotal points, said spring extending between the axle assembly and the sole plate structure.

5. In a roller skate, a sole plate structure, a pair of rollers, an axle assembly upon which the rollers are rotatably mounted, an axle supporting member extending at an inclination from the axle assembly to the sole plate structure and having its outer end pivotally secured to the sole plate structure, a second axle supporting member protruding from the axle assembly and having its outer end pivotally secured to the sole plate structure, universal joints forming the pivotal connections between the axle assembly supporting members and the sole plate structure, and a coiled spring tending to retain the rollers and axle assembly against swinging movement about the pivotal points, said spring extending between one of the axle supporting members and the sole plate structure.

JOHN EDWARD BECKER. 

